“This is an election of consequence,” Republican Mitt Romney said today in Roanoke, at the start of a campaign day in Virginia — the first full day of a resumed campaign fight following the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy.

President Barack Obama, too, is returning to the campaign trail.

“He has a campaign slogan that says `Forward’ — I think forewarned is a better word,” Romney said of Obama at his opening Roanoke morning rally. “Do you want four more years like the last four years?”

“How about four more years of gridlock in Washington?” Romney asked. “There’s really no question, in my mind, that we can’t afford another four years like the last four years.”

“I know the Obama people are chanting `four more years,” he said. “`Our chant is this: `five more days.”’